Fall Semester 2005 Courses |
|
| Anthropology |
Asian Studies | Biology | Chemistry |
Chinese | | Classics |Comparative Literature | Comp. Lit. and General Studies | | Drama | Economics | English | Environmental Science | General Studies | Geology | History | Mathematics | Music | Philosophy | Physics | Political Science | Psychology | Religion | Russian | Sociology | Studies in the Humanities | Women's Studies | See courses from 2007, 2006, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000 |
|
The "First Course" is intended to provide a stimulating introduction to Colorado College, to enhance the research and writing skills important to academic success, and to reinforce excitement about learning, rigorous analysis and creative expression. First Courses include a substantial writing component and a research project. The seminar format and class size encourage active student involvement. The First Course also introduces students to the CC Library, the Writing Center, other academic support systems, and the Honor system. The courses are only a part of the first year; the entire first-year experience includes interaction with FYE mentors and student-organized events, such as speakers, films, performances, and workshops. The offices of Student Life, Residential Life and Center for Service and Learning will work with first-year students throughout the academic year. Find out about picking courses with the point system. Winter Start Program Approximately 30 students are expected to enter the freshman class in Spring 2006. These students are free during the fall for work, travel, or off-campus study, and begin their studies in January. Although it will not be required, winter start students will be encouraged to stay for the college’s impressive Summer Session so that they can start the following fall with sophomore standing. Click here for Spring 2006 courses and to read more on the program from our admissions office. Anthropology Anthropology: AN102 and AN/WS239 Block I: Sarah Hautzinger, AN102, Cultural Anthropology Block II: Sarah Hautzinger, AN/WS239, Women, Men and Others The first block is a n introduction to the study of human societies through the central concept of culture. Explores such topics as meaning, adaptation, social organization, kinship, religion, environment, technology and conflict. Presents anthropological themes including holism, comparison, dynamism and cultural relativism, as well as methodological approaches to studying human experience in naturally occurring contexts. Ethnographic "hands-on" assignments include a gift-giving retrospective charting and analysis, a classified ads analysis, ethics case studies, and a ritual ethnography. Field trip to the Denver Museum of Science and Nature. The second block takes a cross-cultural approach to gender and builds on students' foundation in cultural anthropology, emphasizing variability in the ways gender shapes social interaction and organization. After addressing the relationship between biological sex and culturally constructed gender and diverse sex-gender systems, the course gives special focus to non-binary gender systems, where "third" (or more) genders emerge: hijras in India, two-spirit peoples in diverse Native American peoples, and travestis in Brazil. Diverse anthropological and feminist theoretical frameworks are applied. The class will host a panel from Lakewood's Gender Identity Center for the campus. A series of debates (in lieu of a written final) concludes the course. A set of linked one-block courses that must be taken together, with a single instructor; separate grades will be given for each block. |
| Back to Top |
Asian Studies Asian Studies: JA130 and JA/PA250 Block I: Joan Ericson, JA130, Interpreting Asian Cultures Block II: Joan Ericson, JA/PA250, Topics in Asian Studies: Contemporary Asian Cultures This set of combined courses explores the invention of tradition and contemporary innovations in Asian cultures. The first block, “Japanese Culture,” presents a critical appreciation of popular Japanese icons (Shintoism, Buddhism, samurai, martial arts, haiku poetry, tea ceremony, kabuki theatre, and rice) that scrutinizes how cultural practices and institutions have evolved and been adapted to symbolize Japan, both by Japanese and foreign observers. Through an in-depth examination of innovation in classical and modern cultural dynamics, students acquire the tools to appreciate and appraise how traditions come to be formed in such fields as literary aesthetics (from classical poetry and drama to manga) and artistic artifacts (from calligraphy and gardens to anime). The second block, “Contemporary Asian Cultures,” focuses on the intersection of classical and popular cultural forms with global cultural dynamics that has recast what it means to be Asian. Strategies for interpreting culture that emerged in the American academy (Geertz, Benedict), as well as their post-modern critiques, will be put to the test in examining everyday cultural phenomenon, such as McDonalds in China, Disneyland in Tokyo, MTV in India. We will also study intra-Asian cultural influences (the spread of manga and forms of pop music) as well as the political ramifications of the claims for Asian values and Asian identities. You will have many hands-on opportunities: calligraphy sessions; cooking Japanese, Chinese, and Indian meals; analyzing aesthetics of gardens across Asia; and evaluating cultural artifacts from Asia at the Denver Art Museum. A set of linked one-block courses that must be taken together, with a single instructor; separate grades will be given for each block. |
Biology Biology: BY101 Biology of Microbes Blocks I & II: Phoebe Lostroh, BY101, Introduction to Microbiology: The Physiology and Molecular Biology of Microbes. This course introduces students to the study of microbial life from four standpoints: physiology, ecology, molecular biology, and biochemistry. We will explore these four traditions in microbiology through intensive hands-on laboratory work combined with lectures, discussion, small group work, and individualized library research. During Block 1, we will learn the basic vocabulary of microbiology as well as the foundational skills necessary for studying bacteria in the laboratory. Examples of topics covered include the origins of life on Earth, the isolation and cultivation of bacteria, the structure of bacterial cells, bacterial lifestyles, and bacterial genetics. During Block 2, we will use the foundations gained in Block 1 to understand important contemporary topics in microbiology, such as infectious disease and the spread of antibiotic resistance. We will also read an autobiography written by a microbiologist who has led an intellectually rigorous life in science while also cultivating a critical, moral sensibility about the appropriate practice of science in a world with all too many institutionalized social inequalities. The laboratory experience will culminate in an independent project studying Serratia marcescens, a brick-red bacterium likely responsible for "miracles" in which religious artwork appeared to "bleed" during several infamous events recorded in Renaissance literature. This FYE is a Biology class that fulfills one of the pre-requisites for upper-level biology courses. On a typical day, the class will meet for morning lecture/discussion and for afternoon laboratory work. Writing assignments will include short papers in response to course readings and thorough laboratory reports that emphasize critical thinking and integration of laboratory work with materials from lecture/discussion. Students will improve their verbal communication skills through short in-class exercises and a formal oral presentation of a two-block library research project. This course is most appropriate for students with rigorous preparation in high school biology; a strong exam score in AP or IB Biology is highly recommended. Prerequisite: Two years of high school biology and one year of high school chemistry or consent of instructor . A two-block course taught by one instructor; one grade will be given for the course as a whole.
Biology/Chemistry: BY100 and CH100 Block I: Nate Bower, CH100, Criminalistics: An Introduction to Forensic Science Block II: Lamont Anderson, BY100, Studies in Biology: Forensic Biology in the Laboratory and in Fiction These linked and integrated courses are designed to provide an introduction to the basic science foundations used in the rapidly growing fields of forensic science. If you are a fan of CSI and murder and mayhem mysteries, and are always wondering if they have gotten the science right, this is the course for you! It will assume some scientific language and quantitative background (equivalent to about a year each of high school science and math) but the courses are designed for both non-science and science students willing to team up to put their creative, deductive, and laboratory measuring skills to work solving crimes within the confines of the legal milieu. We will use a mix of historical and fictional case studies, collecting evidence from crime scenes to introduce the methodologies employed in the forensic sciences. Library research coupled with written and oral presentations will be used to develop forensic reporting skills. Scientific articles and texts in conjunction with popular literature will be used to elucidate the scientific principles that support analysis and interpretation of forensic evidence. Forensic biology will also be examined as an element of fiction in the mystery genre in both reading and writing assignments. An afternoon or two each week will be devoted to labs or field trips in both courses. The second block includes a four to five day field trip to the Baca Campus in the San Luis Valley in the third week for a creative writing workshop where you will put what you’ve learned to work. A set of linked one-block courses that must be taken together, with one instructor in each block; separate grades will be given for each block. |
| Back to Top |
Chemistry Chemistry: CH107 and EV120 Block I: Sally Meyer, CH107, General Chemistry I Block II: Mark Morgenstern, EV120, Topics in Environmental Science: Chemistry of Sustainable Agriculture This course combines one block of General Chemistry (CH107) and one block of Topics in Environmental Science (EV120). By linking these two courses you will be prepared to use the chemistry learned in the first block to better appreciate the complex environmental issues discussed in the second block. The CC course catalog description of EV120 reads: Selected topics of current societal interest that relate to our environment offered when interest and opportunity arise. Without a one block limit, the topics covered in this course could last an entire four years or even a lifetime! This FYE will limit the environmental topics to those that involve issues of sustainable agriculture. The chemistry learned Block I will be used to better understand issues related to such topics as pesticides, fertilizers, and water use in agriculture. Block break will be spent at the Land Institute in Salina, Kansas participating in the annual Prairie Festival. The Festival is a celebration of sustainable agriculture and will give us an opportunity to learn from many experts in the field. This course is a unique opportunity to use chemistry to understand environmental problems. Students who need to take General Chemistry as a prerequisite for another course or as a requirement of the Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biology, Neuroscience, Geology, or Environmental Science major, as well as a pre-health professional program, will benefit from this set of linked courses. We will have an opportunity to better understand how chemistry is needed for an understanding of many other fields in science. Prerequisite: Two years of high school algebra and one year of high school chemistry or consent of instructor. A set of linked one-block courses that must be taken together, with one instructor in each block; separate grades will be given for each block. |
| Back to Top |
Chinese Chinese: CN101 and CN250 Block I, Hong Jiang, CN101, Chinese Language and Culture Block II, Hong Jiang, CN250, Chinese Language and Culture Language opens the door to culture. This course will pay attention to the relationship between Chinese language and culture, and word and image. The course begins with the study of the Chinese language, with emphasis on basic grammar, speaking, and listening comprehension, as well as mastery of some 250 Chinese characters for reading and writing (mainly in Block 1). Then students are introduced to the Chinese concept of Family, Nature and Self and how Chinese language and philosophical thinking (Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism) transformed ways of life in the East, as well as the major forms of Chinese literature and art. This is an introductory course which attempts to lead students to study Chinese language and culture in a broader historical and social context. A set of linked one-block courses that must be taken together, with a single instructor; separate grades will be given for each block.
|
| Back to Top |
Classics Classics: CL/HY130 Block I: Owen Cramer and Patricia Fitzgibbon, CL/HY130, The Reinvention of the Greeks: Identity, Empire and Diaspora Block II: Owen Cramer and David Mason, CL/HY130, The Reinvention of the Greeks: Identity, Empire, and Diaspora Greek contributions to American life are many and various. But what does it mean to be Greek? In more than 3,000 years of history, Greeks have been masters, slaves, war-mongers, and pacifists. They gave us the word "democracy" but also "tyranny." Culturally and geographically, they started as both Asian and European. Homer's Iliad, Euripides' Medea and the New Testament remind us how much of Greek culture has roots in Western Asia. The new library in Alexandria, Egypt, reminds us that Hellenism was most at home in northeast Africa. Through a millennium of Byzantine, and 400 years of Ottoman, rule, through the founding of modern Hellas in the 19th century and the disasters and renewals of the 20th century, the Greek language has been a continuous (if problematic) presence, and at most of these periods Greeks produced wonderful literature, from folk poems to novels and film. We will examine questions of ethnicity and identity in the ancient epic, philosophy and drama, and in modern poems and stories: the nationalist Dionysios Solomos; the island story-teller Alexandros Papadiamantis; the Alexandrian C.P. Cavafy, whose sense of estrangement involved sexuality as well as history; the Cretan novelist and poet Nikos Kazantzakis; the Nobel Prize-winning poet George Seferis, who lost his childhood home in Asia Minor in 1922. We will read works by recent women writers, and trace the theme of exile even to Colorado, where a Cretan who took the name Louis Tikas played a heroic role during the Ludlow Massacre of 1914. And we will examine key perceptions of Greece by non-Greeks from Byron on down. Because Greece was part of the Ottoman Empire for four hundred years, contemporary geopolitical questions concerning Christianity and Islam will also form part of our discussions. The course is a good introduction to literary and historical studies, classics, and cultural studies. No knowledge of Greek is required. There will be a one day-trip to the Southern Colorado coalfield area ( Pueblo, Ludlow, Trinidad). A team-taught, two-block course; one grade will be given for the course as a whole. |
| Back to Top |
Comparative Literature Comparative Literature: CO100 Block I: Lisa B. Hughes, CO100, Introduction to Comparative Literature—Literary Metamorphoses Block II:Corinne Scheiner, CO100, Introduction of Comparative Literature—Literary Metamorphoses What is literature? What are genres? How should they be read, interpreted and evaluated? What social and personal functions does writing have? How is writing related to oral tradition? How do writers compare themselves to others (admiration and imitation, rejection, transformation)? Why are so many authors obsessed with the morphic qualities of the human and of language? As the subtitle of this course indicates, we will treat literature as a venue for experiences of transformation and recognition such as Odysseus' return in Homer's Odyssey, the origins of the Athenian legal system when the ancient laws of retribution are pushed to their conceptual limits in Aeschylus' Oresteia, Shakespeare's exploration of the physical boundaries of civilization in The Tempest, Blake's inquiry into the transposition of innocence and experience, Orlando's experience of gender morphing over time in Woolf's Orlando, and Gregor Samsa's awakening as a bug in Kafka's The Metamorphosis. As the above texts suggest, we will also look at the morphic capacity of genre itself. This course emphasizes close reading of literary texts as well as critical research, analysis, and writing. CO100 fulfills the entry course requirement for the Comparative Literature major. A two-block course with one instructor in each block; one grade will be given for the course as a whole. |
Comparative Literature and General Studies General Studies: GS234 and GS234 Block I: John Watkins and Lilian Osaki, GS234, Topics in Comparative Literature: Introduction to African Literature Block II: John Watkins, GS234, Issues in Contemporary Africa: Introduction to African Arts An Introduction to African Literature An Introduction to Africa Arts A set of linked one-block courses that must be taken together; separate grades will be given for each block. |
| Back to Top |
Drama/Dance Drama/Dance: DR100 Block I: Tom Lindblade, DR100, Theatre: Past and Present Block II: Andrew Manley, DR100, Theatre: Past and Present This course is an historical survey of the theoretical, architectural, and practical aspects of the performing arts. The course begins with theories of origins and traces the development of drama through major periods as a way of understanding performance today. Texts include Greek tragedies, Roman comedies, medieval mystery cycles, Shakespearean and Renaissance plays, comedies of manners, American classics, African-American and feminist works, and recent evolutions in dramatic productions. Class format includes lectures, seminar discussions, laboratories, demonstrations, readings of primary and critical texts, and performance. Evaluation by thesis-driven papers, class participation, exams, and small group projects . A two-block course with one instructor in each block; one grade will be given for the course as a whole. |
| Back to Top |
Economics Economics: EC160 and EC110 Block I: Judy Laux, EC160, Principles of Financial Accounting Block II: Judy Laux, EC110, Topics in Economics and Business: The Economic Novel (Students completing this FYE course will receive credit for one required course in the Economics major.) The two linked courses from the Economics and Business curriculum that make up this FYE course offer contrasting perspectives on the allocation of scarce resources in our society. The first two-thirds of this course will introduce you to the principles of accounting while helping you master the business and economics vocabulary. We will focus on the operating, investing, and financing activities that give rise to accounting data, how these data are reflected in financial statements, and how accounting data are used to make resource allocation decisions. In addition, we will discuss the historical development of accounting and debate the quality of information produced by accounting systems. Upon completing this part of the course, you should know and understand:
The last part of the course includes a brief look at economic history and economic ideas as revealed in several major novels, including the impact of the Industrial Revolution, the effect of depressions, revolutionary movements, abuses of developing and unrestrained capitalism, problems of modern corporate relations, and the development of the labor movement. We look at how economic ideas (poverty, capitalism, people’s reactions to work, the quest for profit, entrepreneurial drive, corruption of power, etc.) are portrayed in novels such as The Jungle and The Grapes of Wrath. This portion of the course has a writing emphasis component and is designed to help students achieve proficiency in writing critical essays, gain confidence and ability in classroom discussion, and improve critical thinking. A set of linked one-block courses that must be taken together, with a single instructor; separate grades will be given for each block. |
| Back to Top |
English English: EN203 Blocks I & II: Dan Peddie, EN203, Tradition and Change in Literature Speculative Fictions: Utopia in Western Literature and Thought Utopia, the "good place" that is "no place," literally speaking, would seem to be a rather apt name for the ideal society, which tantalizes us forever from beyond our present reach. Often this marvelous realm has been pictured as a promised land on the horizon of social, economic, cultural, or technological advancement—or even bloody revolution. At other times it has been remembered, nostalgically, as a blissful locale in the unrecoverable past, a Golden Age or Paradise in the youth of the world. It can even have a contemporary dimension, in the (certainly debatable) notion of the holistic primitive society, from which the more "sophisticated" world citizen is forever debarred. But though it never comes to fruition, Utopia never seems to fail of adherents. Social satires, political manifestos, communal experiments, colonial adventurism, spiritual movements, vocational reform, ecological sensibilities, New Age wisdom—all have been premised on a rather clear, and often clearly stated, notion of what constitutes the ideal world. Utopia may be no place, but it is everywhere around us. In this course we will examine Utopianist texts, contexts, and subtexts from the proto-Classical period to the present—from Hesiod's celebration of the Golden Age through recent science-fiction films. Thematically the course will cover seven varieties of the ideal society, each named for a shared leading principle of Utopianist planning. We will be teasing out long lineages, tracing, in our study of Utopian vocations, for example, the connections between Arcadian Pastoral, Shakespeare's Green World, Hawthorne's Blithedale Romance, and Communist Utopias. In every case, we will be asking fundamental questions of the Utopianist text. What is the ideal imagined here? How does it offer a better alternative to the current state of affairs? Where, and when, is this Utopia supposed to be fulfilled? Who would be allowed to live there, and—not least important—who would be privileged to govern? A two-block course taught by one instructor; one grade will be given for the course as a whole. |
| Back to Top |
General Studies General Studies: GS101 "Freedom and Authority" was the first interdisciplinary course at Colorado College and has been taught here for over 40 years. It is a two-block course focusing on the conflict between individual freedom and the limits imposed on this freedom by the state and its laws, by religious institutions and scriptures, and by attitudes of the society in which we live. As an interdisciplinary course, it studies literary, philosophical, religious, historical, and scientific texts in a thematic context. It focuses on four main themes: personal authority, social authority, political authority, and religious authority. Behind all of these themes are questions such as: What constitutes personal identity? What are the sources of our individual values and commitments? How much of what we are can be traced to ethnic and cultural background? What should one do when conscience and laws conflict? How does the individual relate to the group? How do authority and power work to constrain and mold individuals? How do sources of authority legitimate themselves? Through reading, writing, discussion, and critical thinking we will grapple with these and other questions surrounding the human condition. Section 1: GS101, Freedom & Authority A team-taught, two-block course; one grade will be given for the course as a whole. Section 2 : GS101, Freedom and Authority A two-block course; one grade will be given for the course as a whole. Section 3 : GS101, Freedom and Authority A two-block course taught by one instructor; one grade will be given for the course as a whole.
General Studies: GS204 Blocks I & II: Keith Kester, GS204, Spirit & Nature, Religion & Science Come and explore the realms of spirit and nature, and within those realms the human spirit and human nature. Examine where good and evil are to be found. Study the parallels and differences between religion and science; and how meaningful relationships develop between the natural and the supernatural, between immanence and transcendence, between the animate and the inanimate, between the sacred and the secular. Consider how a person of integrity can be both religious and scientific. Explore our world in both natural and religious settings. Become aware of the diversity of life, and of religions, and look for ways to nurture and protect both diversities. Come away looking at our world and all its components, including the spiritual and the natural, in new and different ways. The course will look at the development of the theory of evolution through the eyes of Charles Darwin and his voyage on the Beagle; explore faith and the plurality of religions through Paul Tillich's Dynamics of Faith and Diana Eck's Encountering God; consider The Sacred Depths of Nature with Ursula Goodenough; share E. O. Wilson's concerns about Conserving Earth's Biodiversity; reflect on human-human, and human-nature interactions and the nature of evil with the aid of Rosemary Reuther's Gaia and God, and Lance Morrow’s Evil: An Investigation; experience different religious communities; and read and recite nature poetry. There will be field projects exploring bio-diversity, the geologic history of the Garden of the Gods, and surveying parts of Cheyenne Mountain State Park for signs of wildlife. Class will be held at the Baca campus (located about 175 miles southwest of campus) for one week during Block I. A two-block course taught by one instructor; one grade will be given for the course as a whole.
|
| Back to Top |
Geology Geology: GY140 and GY150 Block I: Christine Siddoway, GY140, Physical Geology Block II: Henry Fricke, GY150, Environmental Geology This pairing of geology courses makes full use of the local Rocky Mountains as a natural laboratory in which to investigate the record of Earth history preserved in the rocks, the dynamic earth processes in effect in the mountain environment, and how human activities relate to these processes. The span of geological time is almost completely represented in the Colorado Front Range, allowing interpretation of the succession of ancient environments that existed here, supporting both marine and terrestrial organisms. The structural architecture and the sedimentary record exposed in Colorado's mountains offer a context for investigation of several cycles of mountain-building activity related to plate tectonic events. A variety of landscapes and land uses in the region make it possible to study different ways in which people relate to their physical environment. These courses devote time to learning the language of geology and to developing skills for identification of the origins and uses of earth materials that will be used as a basis for field investigation and scientific questioning. Applied field and laboratory exercises may range from the study of fossil assemblages for paleoclimate interpretation, to geological mapping of faults and folds on a topographic map base, to the measurement of stream flow and stream chemistry for environmental assessment. On a typical day the class will meet for morning lecture and afternoon lab; however, a day might be spent entirely in the field for practical experience at deciphering outcrops and embracing real geological problems. In general, the course will involve a considerable amount of time in the field, ranging from local afternoon trips to multi-day excursions. These geology classes fulfill the prerequisite in the department for all upper-level geology classes and meets the Environmental Science-Geology emphasis requirement for an introductory course. The class meets goals of the FYE program and emphasizes writing skills in a variety of formats. These formats will include a scientific field notebook; short, precise papers; and a major research paper. Verbal communication skills will be developed through persuasive debate on the outcrop, discussion of the philosophical readings and primary literature, group investigation activities, and research presentations. A set of linked one-block courses that must be taken together, with one instructor in each block; separate grades will be given for each block. |
| Back to Top |
History History: HY104 Blocks I & II: Mark Johnson, HY104, Culture, Society and History: Global Foundations of Education This course will introduce students to key theories and methods in world and comparative history through the prism of the history of education. We will analyze the origins of various approaches to education in the context of the great religious traditions, and consider how those ideas and practices were influenced and shaped in the pre-modern world through cross-cultural contact and patterns of conquest and conversion. We will then analyze the emergence of educational systems in the early modern world, with a special focus on the role of Western colonialism and the ways in which modern ethnic, religious, gender, and national identities were influenced through those cross-cultural encounters. Finally, we will consider how the contemporary globalization of education has grown out of those deeper historical processes of contact, conflict, and collaboration. This course will be of interest to students considering majors in history or education. A two-block course taught by one instructor; one grade will be given for the course as a whole.
History: HY105 This course will consider the ways in which various ancient, medieval, and modern cultures in the Mediterranean and in Europe have constructed community and identity. Source readings will include major works of literature, seen in the context of, on the one hand, the material culture of village and city life and, on the other, the spiritual and emotional lives of both elites and ordinary people. Class discussion, individual writing assignments, and group research initiatives will alike respond to the question, 'How did the people of the past understand participation in society to make their lives meaningful?’ (This course fulfills the entry requirement for the History, History/Political Science and Classics/History/Politics majors.) Section 1: HY105, Civilization of the West A two-block course taught by one instructor; one grade will be given for the course as a whole. Section 2: HY105, Civilization of the West A two-block course taught by one instructor; one grade will be given for the course as a whole . |
| Back to Top |
Mathematics Mathematics: MA110 and MA127 Block I: Jane McDougall, MA110, Mathematical Explorations Block II: Marlow Anderson, MA127, Calculus 1 & 2 Review How often have you heard the phrase "mathematics is the language of science"? While it is certainly true that modern science as we know it could not exist without mathematics, this does not mean that mathematics is nothing more than a tool for doing science. In this course we will explore the way in which mathematics, and in particular calculus, touches almost all areas of human thought and creativity. This course will be a calculus course, designed especially for students who have already had a year of calculus in high school, and is the equivalent of Calculus 1 and Calculus 2 in one package. In other words, this course will prepare you for Calculus 3. But, because you will already be familiar with some of the routine and mechanical aspects of calculus, we will be able to spend more time exploring why calculus is important, how it is applied to the real world, and what other sort of interesting and fun things can be done with it. This course will not be like any math course you have ever had. You will solve lots and lots of math problems just like in any other math course, but you will also read novels, write papers, look at art, watch films, and do anything else we can think of that involves mathematics. Our goal in this course is to change the way you think about mathematics forever. Prerequisite: One year of high school calculus. A set of linked one-block courses that must be taken together, with one instructor in each block; separate grades will be given for each block. |
Music Music: MU202 Block I: Michael Grace, MU202, American Music: From Plymouth Rock to Rock Block II: Nilanjana Bhattacharjya, MU202, American Music: From Plymouth Rock to Rock This course is a survey of music in the United States from the colonial era to the present. Both popular and classical music traditions will be studied with special attention given to the social and political contexts in which they developed. In the first block, classical music traditions will be examined: the emergence of innovative U.S. composers in the 18th and 19th centuries will be seen as the foundations for the nationalistic works of Ives, Copland and others; after study of Tin Pan Alley and the Broadway musical, the block will conclude with an examination of the modern and postmodern movements of the mid and late 20th century. In the second block, popular music traditions from the same period will be examined, beginning with both European and African roots; the course will survey the evolution of popular genres such as the blues, minstrelsy, jazz and folk, and end with the rock and hip hop cultures. A two-block course with one instructor in each block; one grade will be given for the course as a whole. Blocks I & II: Vicki Levine, MU104, World Music This FYE course introduces the musical cultures from six areas of the world to include Africa, the British Isles, India, Indonesia, Japan, and Native North America. Students are exposed to fundamental musical and anthropological concepts such as melody, rhythm, texture, and the role and meaning of music in human life. Musicians from the representative cultures will teach workshops where students are given the opportunity to experience performances that use traditional instruments and vocal styles. Students will expand their musical skills through creative, analytical, and research projects. No prior musical background is required. This course meets the ethnomusicology requirement for the Music minor. A two-block course taught by one instructor; one grade will be given for the course as a whole. |
| Back to Top |
Philosophy Philosophy: PH203 and PH203 Blocks I: Alberto Hernandez-Lemus , PH203, Topics in Philosophy: Modernity and Postmodernity in Philosophy and Art, Part I Block II: Alberto Hernandez-Lemus , PH203, Topics in Philosophy: Modernity and Postmodernity in Philosophy and Art, Part II One of the buzzwords in and out of academia today is the term "postmodern," a term often used without a clear referent. This course will help students get a handle on the condition that the buzzword unreflectively points to: the perceived overcoming of the project of modernity, which can be traced to European Enlightenment beginning roughly with the French Revolution, as well as the alleged bankruptcy of grand narratives of social and scientific progress. This course will prepare philosophy majors and non-majors to deepen their understanding of the history of philosophy with History of Modern Philosophy and 20th Century Philosophy courses. Readings will include some of the following: Descartes, Rousseau, Voltaire, Sade, Kant, Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, Benjamin, Gramsci, Lyotard, Foucault, Deleuze, Goethe, Kafka, Woolf, Eliot, Baudelaire, Elison, Beckett, Bataille. In addition, students will do research projects and presentations on visual artists. A set of linked one-block courses that must be taken together, with a single instructor; separate grades will be given for each block. |
| Back to Top |
Physics Physics: PC123/124 Block I: Stephanie DiCenzo, PC123, Scientific Revolutions: The Copernican Revolution Block II: Barbara Whitten, PC124, Scientific Revolutions: Relativity 'Tis all in pieces, all cohaerence gone; All just supply, and all Relation: Prince, Subject, Father, Sonne, are things forgot, For every man alone thinkes he hath got To be a Phoenix, and that there can bee None of that kinde, of which he is, but hee.' —John Donne, 1611 In 1543 Copernicus took the Earth from its central position in the world and replaced it with the sun. By 1611 Galileo had turned his telescope to the heavens and found them as changeable and imperfect as the Earth. Because the structure of the universe was intimately woven together with religion and social structure, these changes in the physical world shook the foundations of our relations with each other and with God. John Donne's poetic response illustrates the disorientation of losing your place in the world. Just what was the world in 1611, and how was it changing? We will read from Plato, Copernicus, Galileo and Newton to sample the way thinkers have thought about the heavens from the ancient Greeks to the 18 th century. A set of linked one-block courses that must be taken together, with one instructor in each block; separate grades will be given for each block. |
| Back to Top |
Political Science Political Science: PS103 Block I: Juan Lindau, PS103, The Western Political Tradition in Global Perspective Block II: Tim Fuller, PS103, The Western Political Tradition in Global Perspective This course explores the genesis of the Western political tradition in ancient Greece, its expansion and development, and its encounter with the world. A tradition is neither static nor defined by a single thought or idea; it undergoes constant actions of both preservation and innovation and contains numerous voices establishing its character. A tradition is a complex, unsystematic whole encompassing both argument and agreement. We will consider a variety of writings on politics from ancient to modern times, paying attention to continuities and discontinuities in the tradition of thinking about politics. Assignments will also include materials covering the impact of the West on the rest of the world and the reaction of other cultural and intellectual traditions to the spread of Western ideas. We believe that understanding the contours of the tradition sheds light on the current ways we interpret and respond to the world and is of value to students as citizens, whatever major they may ultimately choose. A two-block course with one instructor in each block; one grade will be given for the course as a whole. Blocks I & II: Bob Lee, HY200 and PS203, The Search for Islamic Order: Yesterday and Today Since September 11, 2001, Americans have begun take greater interest in Islam, and they have begun to discover that it is not easy to speak about the Islamic world as a whole. Is there an Islamic way of organizing society? What do Islamists mean when they talk about an Islamic state? Why do some Muslims insist that Islam offers a program for political action, while others insist that religious belief has nothing to do with politics? How is it that a single set of revelations passed to Muhammad in the seventh century represents a hope for a new moral order, on the part of some, and recipe for violence, in the minds of others? In the first block, the course examines the historical development of several versions of Islamic order. What was the nature of the Islamic state Muhammad established in Medina? How did the subsequent Arab Empires reflect and differ from that experience? In what atmosphere did scholars construct the legal system of Islam? How did the political order proposed by Shi'ism differ from that characterized by Sunnism? Why did mysticism penetrate both the Shi'a and Sunni communities? To what extent did the Ottoman Empire, which brought together a significant portion of the Muslim world from 1300 until 1918, reflect earlier versions of Islamic order and did it innovate? The second block confronts the questions of order and chaos in the contemporary Muslim Middle East, examining the place of the nation-state in Islamic theory; the impact of imperialism, liberalism, and socialism; the rise of Islamist movements; the position of women in the Muslim world; and the relationship of Islamic doctrine to human rights, democracy, and violence. A set of linked one-block courses that must be taken together, with a single instructor; separate grades will be given for each block. |
| Back to Top |
Psychology Psychology: PY101 Block I: John Horner, PY101, Introduction to Psychology: Enduring Ideas and Present Principles Block II: Kristi Erdal, PY101, Introduction to Psychology: Enduring Ideas and Present Principles This course traces the historical development of psychology as a science. Using primary sources from Aristotle to Freud to Sacks, psychological concepts, as well as popular misconceptions, will be traced to their current understanding. The first block will focus on learning, cognition, perception, and social psychology, and introduce students to the methods psychologists use to investigate phenomena, such as data collection, analysis, presentation, and interpretation. The second block will focus on neuroanatomy, development, testing, psychopathology, and the mechanisms of licit and illicit drugs. |
| Back to Top |
Religion Religion: RE200 and RE200 Block I: David Gardiner, RE200, Topics in Religion: Religious Responses to the Challenge of Suffering, Part I Block II: Dan Shaw, RE200, Topics in Religion: Religious Responses to the Challenge of Suffering, Part II This course will examine ways in which various religions provide a context for understanding and transcending suffering. While not a comprehensive survey of world religions, we will explore how Buddhist, Christian, Islamic, Jewish, Daoist and other traditions identify fundamental forms of suffering in life and the methods they present for healing suffering. The course will emphasize the role of stories in these traditions, both specific tales and legends that convey significant historic and symbolic meaning, and broader “meta-narratives” that provide a general ethos and worldview. Key questions we will address include:
Course materials will include readings from the scriptures of various traditions and secondary writings by contemporary scholars that examine these questions from various perspectives. The first block will introduce some theories about how stories (in both the specific and general senses noted) function to provide humans meaning, and will investigate stories about suffering mostly from Eastern traditions. The second block will focus primarily on stories about suffering from within Western traditions. A set of linked one-block courses that must be taken together, with one instructor in each block; separate grades will be given for each block. |
| Back to Top |
Russian Russian/Eurasian Studies: RU101/RS200 Blocks 1: Alexei Pavlenko, RU101, Elementary Russian Language Block 2: Alexei Pavlenko, RS200, Topics in Russian and Eurasian Studies: Language Literature and Film. What’s to be done? Who is to blame? What is the Russian soul? These are the "cursed" questions over which the Russian writers, film directors, artists, and intellectuals have been debating since the beginning of the 19th century. Why and how do these questions relate to us today? Russian culture has been perceived by the West as the Other and–often simultaneously—as the repository of the West’s most cherished values. From Christianity to Marxism to postmodernism, Russia—its history and art—has embodied the crucial conflicts which characterize contemporary consciousness. In spite of the Bolshevik Revolution and the Cold War, much of the European and American intellectual landscape has been shaped by Russian writers, film directors, artists and composers. Some of the most defining trends in European cultural history of the 20th century—Realism, Modernism, Existentialism, Symbolism, and Formalism—are inconceivable without Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Mayakovsky, Eisenstein, Tarkovsky, Nabokov, and other Russian writers and film directors. In this course, we will integrate the study of the Russian language with the great tradition of Russian literature and film. We begin with the premise that each of these disciplines (i.e., the study of a language, and the concomitant study of literature, film, and culture) infuses and cross-fertilizes the other. Major literary texts will be chosen from among Crime and Punishment, Anna Karenina or The Cossacks, Fathers and Sons, and stories by Chekhov, Solzhenitsyn, Nabokov, and Tatyana Tolstaya. A set of linked one-block courses that must be taken together, with a single instructor; separate grades will be given for each block.
|
| Back to Top |
Sociology Sociology: SO100/SO235 Block I: Gail Murphy-Geiss, SO100, Thinking Sociologically Block II: Gail Murphy-Geiss, SO235, Sociology of Family Family and Social Change The first block will explore sociological thinking in general, including basic theory, methods, and an introduction to the terminology and themes in the field. The goal will be to provide the tools and set the context for deeper sociological analysis. The second block will focus specifically on sociology of family, especially the cutting edge issues of our time, such as same-sex marriage, surrogate motherhood/sperm & egg donation, and international adoption. There will also be significant attention to domestic violence. Assignments will include classic and contemporary readings, debates over controversial issues, as well as data collection in local family courts. A set of linked one-block courses that must be taken together, with a single instructor; separate grades will be given for each block. |
| Back to Top |
Studies in the Humanities Studies in Humanities: HS120 Section 1: HS120: Renaissance Culture Block 1 : "Embodying the Renaissance" Block II : "How They Did It: Patronage and Product in the Renaissance" A team-taught, two-block course; separate grades will be given for each block. |
| Back to Top |
Women's Studies Women’s Studies: WS110 and WS/HS118 Block I: Eileen Bresnahan, WS110, Introduction to Women Studies: Sex and Power Block II: Tonja Olive, WS/HS118, Gender and Communication: Sex and Power These two linked courses will introduce students to some of the scholarship, the theories, and the debates that presently inform our attempts to understand gender, both in its present-day expressions and as it has existed historically. We will explore gender’s role as an important organizing principle of human society, which affects how each of us exists within and experiences our diverse social world as specific, embodied people. We will also consider how gender expresses and interacts with larger social, ideological, and cultural structures to produce normative regimes with which all of us constantly interact and sometimes contend. A set of linked one-block courses that must be taken together, with one instructor in each block; separate grades will be given for each block. |
| Back to Top |
General Studies GS101: Freedom & Authority Block V: Dennis McEnnerney (Philosophy) and Jim Matson (Asian History), GS101, Freedom & Authority Block VI: Tonja Olive (Women’s Studies) and Dennis McEnnerney (Philosophy), GS101, Freedom & Authority "Freedom and Authority" was the first interdisciplinary course at Colorado College and has been taught here for over 40 years. It is a two-block course focusing on the conflict between individual freedom and the limits imposed on this freedom by the state and its laws, by religious institutions and scriptures, and by attitudes of the society in which we live. As an interdisciplinary course, it studies literary, philosophical, religious, historical, and scientific texts in a thematic context. It focuses on four main themes: personal authority, social authority, political authority, and religious authority. Behind all of these themes are questions such as: What constitutes personal identity? What are the sources of our individual values and commitments? How much of what we are can be traced to ethnic and cultural background? What should one do when conscience and laws conflict? How does the individual relate to the group? How do authority and power work to constrain and mold individuals? How do sources of authority legitimate themselves? Through reading, writing, discussion, and critical thinking we will grapple with these and other questions surrounding the human condition. A two-block, team taught course; one grade will be given for the course as a whole. |
| Back to Top |
History HY104: History, Society, and Culture Blocks V & VI: John Williams and Bryan Rommel-Ruiz, HY104, History, Society, and Culture This course compares and contrasts European and Asian Civilizations from the ancient period to the modern. By focusing on political order, material culture, and religion, among other values, we will examine how people structured their lives in these major civilizations similarly and differently. As we move to the modern period we will take these lenses of comparison to look at how cultures and societies developed in the Atlantic World and the Pacific Rim. This course fulfills the entry requirement for the History, History/Political Science and Classics/History/Politics majors. A team-taught two-block course; one grade will be given for the course as a whole. |
| Back to Top |
Psychology PY111: Introduction to Psychology: General Laws and Individual Differences Blocks V & VI: Carole Martin, PY111, Introduction to Psychology: General Laws and Individual Differences This course will provide an exploration of universals and individual differences in human behavior. Students will discover that through a process of systematic observation and analysis, behavior that may have at first appears chaotic or impenetrable assumes meaning and order. The course provides an overview of psychological science from biobehavioral and sociobehavioral perspectives. Topics include the brain, perception, learning, intelligence, development, abnormal behavior, motivation, and social behavior. A significant portion of the course will be devoted to applied developmental psychology. Students are introduced to methods of Scientific Investigation and participate in labs that elucidate the course content. They will read primary research materials and learn to critically evaluate popular claims about child development. The relationship between scientific evidence and social policy decisions will be examined. This course fulfills the entry requirement for the Psychology major. A two-block course taught by one instructor; one grade will be given for the course as a whole. |
| Back to Top |
The Point System for Bidding on Courses at Pre-registration Students pre-register for the following year's courses during the Spring semester. Each student receives 10 points per block and a total of 80 points to bid on their courses during pre-registration. Every student has the same number of points to work with. This allows every student to have the same chance to bid on a course. If the number of points bid on a course does not lead to the enrollment of the student in the class, the student will be placed on the waiting list for the class. Things to remember about the point system and pre-registration:
|
| Back to Top |